Farscape Encyclopedia Project:Point of view
The Farscape Encyclopedia Project is written from two primary points of view (POV). In-universe The FEP's primary point of view is that of a character inside the fictional Farscape universe. Farscape universe articles should be written as if the described person, object, or event actually existed or occurred, exactly like in a normal encyclopedia, but with an omniscient writer. Think of the Farscape Encyclopedia Project as an encyclopedia that exists in the Farscape universe. Use: :"... Scorpius was a half-Sebacean, half-Scarran, who served as Peacekeeper – and later was a member of Moya s crew..." Instead of: :"... Scorpius is the famous half-Sebacean, half-Scarran bad guy of Farscape..." Tense Farscape stories primarily take place around the turn of the 2nd Earth millennium, but many eras are touched upon. As such, it is important to write all articles from a single perspective: i.e. that of someone looking back at the past. This helps to keep the Farscape Encyclopedia Project consistent and understandable. A specific point in time has not been defined, but if it helps, pretend that we're writing and viewing this data archive at the end of time, long after the Farscape universe as we know it has ceased to exist. This means using the past tense in almost all instances. An exception to this are purely definitional statements on articles about a concept (which can be considered "eternal") - these may be written in present tense. For example, an article about any specific planet should be written in past tense from beginning to end. An article about the concept planet, however, could start with a definition that is written in present tense ("A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star"), before changing to past tense for the remainder of the article. If it helps with the prose, further statements can be qualified with a time setting to place them into context and to allow putting them into past tense (example: "In the 19th century, Rygel was deposed by his cousin Bishan."). Some examples of how tense should be used for in-universe articles: :"The Zelbinion was an active starship in the 19th century." :"Pluto was a major planetary body in the Sol system." The tense that should be used is simple past tense. Usage of the conditional is incorrect, such as: :"Later, Moya would encounter an automated probe that Aeryn Sun had reprogrammed while she was still a Peacekeeper." This sentence should be structured as: :"Later, Moya encountered an automated probe that Aeryn Sun had reprogrammed while she was still a Peacekeeper." The proper, and indeed only, use of the conditional is with an if-then type syntax, such as: :"The new prototype that Crichton created would have allowed the Scorvians to win their war against the Ilanic." In that example, the prototype "would" have been able to do something, if something else had happened – in this case, if Crichton had allowed them to. Citing sources and background information Due to its nature, background information, apocrypha, and citations of the sources used naturally occurs outside the POV. Background information and apocrypha is considered to fall under the "real world" POV and, as such, should be restricted to the appropriate sections. See the Manual of Style for more information. See Cite Your Sources for information on how to cite your sources in episodes. Undisclosed information There are some cases in Farscape stories in which it was made clear that certain information is entirely unknown due to memory wipes or similar plot twists. While, in theory, these things are not known to anyone within the Farscape universe, the Farscape Encyclopedia Project's POV is all-knowing, just like the television viewer. Production point of view The production or "real world" point of view applies to articles about the Farscape franchise and production (eg. articles on books, episodes, series, comics, actors, staff, etc.), which naturally are not part of the Farscape universe. All such articles should have the template at the top. Tense should be the same as a standard encyclopedia in the present day. Some examples of how tense should be used for production articles: :"Rockne S. O'Bannon was a writer and producer for Farscape." :"Farscape is a science fiction franchise comprising a television series, a miniseries plus numerous books, comics, games, and collectibles." Episode articles Articles concerning Farscape episodes are a special case. Although they are covered by the production point of view, summary sections are written from an in-universe point of view and may be written in either present or past tense. Other sections, including the sidebar and background information sections, should be written in a standard production point of view. Use: :"In Command, Crichton listens to D'Argo's arguments." Instead of: :"The episode begins with Crichton sitting Command listening to D'Argo's arguments." Maintenance pages Articles concerning the functioning of the Farscape Encyclopedia Project fall outside of either point of view. These include the Main Page, pages in "Farscape Encyclopedia Project:", "Template:", "Help:" and "User:" namespaces, and all talk pages. Related pages * Cite your sources * Manual of Style * , a template to tag articles written from the real world point of view